AMES – The Pop-Tarts Bowl has quickly become a fan favorite. With a fun atmosphere in a warm setting, it encapsulates what bowl season is all about.

This season, No. 18 Iowa State takes on No. 13 Miami (FL) at Camping World Stadium in Orlando in a battle between two 10-win teams. When it comes to bowl games outside of the College Football Playoff, this one is near the top.

“[Miami is] the number one offense in the country probably for a reason,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “I mean, they’re greatly talented.”

The Cyclones are no strangers to Orlando. This will be head coach Matt Campbell’s third time coaching a bowl game in the central-Florida city.

Iowa State did lose the 2021 Cheez-it Bowl to Clemson, and in its other trip to Orlando in 2019, when the Cyclones lost to Notre Dame in the Camping World Bowl.

Technically, this is the third time Iowa State will play in this specific bowl game inside of Camping World Stadium, but they all have gone by different names.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl started as the Blockbuster Bowl in 1990 and went through multiple partner and name changes, including CarQuest, MicronPC, Champs Sports, Russell Athletic, Camping World, Cheez-It and now Pop-Tarts.

From 2001-2003, the bowl was simply known as the Tangerine Bowl.

No matter the name, Camping World Stadium, which used to be known as the Citrus Bowl, has played host to this bowl game for over three decades. It has been a staple of bowl season.

2024 marks the eighth time that two ranked opponents will face in this bowl game.

Last season in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Kansas State defeated North Carolina State. But it wasn’t necessarily the game itself that stole the show; it was what happened afterward.

The mascot of the Pop-Tarts Bowl wasn’t just a regular, run-of-the-mill mascot. It was an edible one.

After the game, Kansas State players feasted on the life-sized Pop-Tart in a moment that drew lots of attention on social media. Now, the Cyclones have the opportunity to do the same.

“Watching it last year, while we [were] in Memphis, just seeing all the stuff they do, I think it’ll be a pretty cool and fun bowl game,” senior wide receiver Jaylin Noel said.

New for this year’s Pop-Tarts Bowl is that there are three edible mascots that will be competing to be eaten after the game. The flavors include Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae, Frosted Wild Berry and Frosted Cinnamon Roll.

Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser made his stance known on which flavor he would prefer to have should the Cyclones win.

“The hot fudge sundae Pop-Tart,” Mouser said. “It’s an underrated Pop-Tart, it doesn’t get talked about enough. Everyone wants to talk about brown sugar, cinnamon, strawberry, s’mores… I hear so much about the s’mores.”

Aside from the fun surrounding the game, the game itself is another chance for Iowa State to continue to write its own history. The Cyclones can still capture their first 11-win season in program history, and a bowl win would give head coach Matt Campbell the most bowl wins by a head coach in school history.

The 11-win goal is what the players want to accomplish the most.

“I’m excited for this next game because, again, we’d still be able to create history,” quarterback Rocco Becht said.

Now that the bowl is nearly a week away, all of the Cyclone seniors are still likely to play in the bowl. For this group, especially the ones that stayed all four years, it would mean the most to them to send this group off with a victory.

In 2021, the freshman season for Noel and defensive back Beau Freyler, they played at Camping World Stadium when the Pop-Tarts Bowl formerly was called the Cheez-It Bowl.

That was the day when Freyler made his name known.

“I just remember, in the moment, being so frustrated that we didn’t get the win,” Freyler said. “I didn’t think about my performance or anything of that nature. I was just hurt for the seniors at that point.”

Sending the seniors off with a bowl win this season is what the other players and coaches want to do.

“It’d mean everything,” defensive back Jontez Williams said. “I know how those guys come to work each and every day, and I try to come to work as hard as they do as well, so just getting this win for those guys would be amazing.”

Leaving the team having won a bowl game and having momentum to build with is what the seniors want to do.

“I just want to leave them with the mindset that you can’t settle,” Noel said. “If you settle to be average, then that’s what you’re gonna get on the field, is average. Never settle, always push each other and hold guys accountable.”

The Pop-Tarts Bowl between Iowa State and Miami will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT on Dec. 28. It will be nationally televised on ABC.